Camping
by BuckKitty06
Summary: Lily is coerced into going on a weekend camping trip with James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter after graduation. Naturally, chaos ensues. Chapter Five is up! Final chapter includes: Drunken Go Fish!
1. Chapter 1

**Camping**

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* * *

****Lily is coerced into going on a weekend camping trip with the boys after graduation. Naturally, chaos ensues.**

**Chapter One: Camping?**

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* * *

**Lily looked absolutely gob smacked when she heard the word that came out of James Potter's mouth. She shook her head, convinced she had heard him incorrectly and kindly asked that he repeat himself for the sake of her sanity.

He obliged, grinning. "Camping."

Much to her horror, the word had remained very much the same as the first time that she heard it. Unsure of how she was supposed to respond to his giddy behavior and spouting off of the word "camping," Lily bit her lip in confusion.

"Oh, don't look at me that way, Love. It'll be fun. Just the five of us. You can bring along a mate, if you'd like."

Just the five of us? Bring along a mate? _Camping?_

Over his shoulder, Lily could see the three other boys shifting nervously from foot to foot, obviously waiting for her approval.

She looked from the nervous boys in the background to James' brilliant smile. She groaned inwardly. How on Earth was she supposed to say no now?

Sighing and shrugging her shoulders, Lily uttered a quick, "I guess so."

Before giving her a huge hug, James turned towards his mates, much like a five year old, and gave them thumbs up. The boys began high-fiving each other, congratulating themselves on their win.

They were going camping. Just the five of them. Of course, Lily could bring along a mate, if she liked.

Thankfully, Lily had little time to think much about the camping trip that was to take place only a week after graduation. She was too preoccupied with her sister's wedding plans, her NEWTs, and, among other things, the fact that in a few short weeks she would be out of school and unemployed.

"That's why you need to come, Lily," Sirius had urged her, "to get your mind off everything! It'll be a great way to start off the rest of our lives!"

Lily had rolled her eyes, but accepted it as a feasible distraction.

The final weeks of school had passed, and Lily soon found herself sitting for hours in her old bedroom thinking of the school, and the people, she had left behind. Sirius was right. She did need a distraction, and when James Potter showed up at her house in the early hours of the morning to cart her off to the middle of no where, she couldn't have been more pleased with her decision.

Waving goodbye to her reluctant parents ("You're the only girl?" "Well, I can invite a mate, if I want to,"), and her apathetic sister ("I hope you get eaten by a bear."), Lily quickly followed James into the green flames in her parents' fireplace, shouting out her destination.

Landing with a _flump_ on a carpet baring an intricate design, Lily began to dust herself, and her belongings, off. She looked around at the excited faces staring at her.

"Alright, there, Lily?" Peter asked, his grin widening even more, if it was possible. She nodded her head and smiled back.

"I see you've got a sleeping bag, then. I was going to offer to let you share with me," Sirius teased with a wink, ignoring the daggers James glared in his direction.

"No, no. I'm perfectly alright. And besides, if I wanted to share, I'd have invited a mate." Sirius about died at the mental image of Lily and one of her friends sharing a sleeping bag, but was kept from saying anything as Remus had spoken up.

"Good to see you. Summer treating you well?"

Lily shrugged, eyeing the large pile of stuff in the corning of the room. "Are we taking all of that?" She asked skeptically.

James nodded. "We secured the equipment from my mum and dad, Pete's parents sent us some food, and of course, we have some alcohol ("Hey! It's a necessity!") from Sirius,"

Lily's eyes laughed as she rolled them in Sirius' direction. "Of course it is, Black."

"You lot ready to get going?" Remus asked. "I'm about starved and I figure we better get camp set up before we go out and catch some fish."

"You? You are going to catch fish?" Lily asked incredulously.

"Yes, Evans. I am. And then we're going to _eat_ them!"

Lily laughed. "Oh, Remus. I can just imagine you in those ridiculous hip-waders my dad wears."

James replied, "Well, you won't have to imagine it soon. Let's get going!"

It took them each several trips apparating to their camping spot and back to the Potter house to finally have all of their belongings at the camp site.

After a few pained minutes of watching James and Sirius struggle with the tent, Lily finally brought herself to ask the question that was burning on the tip of her tongue, "Have either of you actually used this thing before?"

James cursed under his breath and Sirius just smiled at her, no doubt trying to charm her out of her discomfort with the situation.

"'Course, Love" James said. "We just. Well, we weren't quite in the proper state of mind when we took it down last. We can't find all of the pieces."

"Ah…" Lily decided it was in her best interest to leave the two alone with the tent and wondered over to where Remus and Peter were huddled around a tackle box, each holding a fishing pole.

"Watch it, Moony. I like having two eyes, thanks," Lily heard Peter snap as she approached them.

"Well, if you'd hold still then I won't have gotten the hook so close to your eye,"

"Hello, boys," Lily said, stepping in before the argument came to blows.

They both grunted by way of hello before Remus handed her a fishing pole. "We need your dainty hands."

Lily stared at him, her eyebrows raised. "And why would that be?" she asked, looking at the pole. He handed her a hook.

"Peter won't hold still and I can't get the damn hook tied into my line."

"Hence your dainty fingers," Peter added helpfully.

After several very frustrating tries, Lily had successfully tied hooks onto all five of the fishing poles.

"You really saved us there, Lily," Peter said, gesturing to the poles. "I mean, that's really the only reason we brought you along."

"That, and so that you could do all of the woman's work."

Lily laughed. "It's camping. I didn't think there _was_ any woman's work in camping?"

Remus shrugged. "Don't worry, we'll find you something to do." He winked playfully at her. "How're those buffoons doing with the tent?"

Lily snorted. "They lost pieces, last I heard."

Peter and Remus looked at each other before they burst into laughter. "Last time we used this thing, we were fifteen and Mr. and Mrs. Potter had to leave in the middle of the night and forgot to take the fire whiskey with them."

"Yeah, that sounds about like something that would happen to you blokes," Lily said, nodded her head. "Reckon we should go try to help them?"

She gazed over in the direction that her boyfriend and his idiotic best friend were currently fighting with the vast canvas tent, which was acting as a giant green sail in the wind, pulling away from them and ripping the small stakes they had set into the ground just moments before back out.

It was all rather humorous, until, of course, she had to actually help them.

"I need a stick."

"Are we talking a twig or a tree branch, James? I need a little something more than 'stick,'" Lily said, exasperated. It was at least the tenth vague command he'd made during the entire tent ordeal.

"A big one," he said, "Taller than Sirius." As an after thought he called after her retreating back, "And make sure it's relatively straight. It's got to hold up the roof!"

Lily stood with her hands on her hips, staring at the three sticks, all relatively straight and, she was almost positive, taller than Sirius. They were pretty similar, being sticks, and all, but which one was the _right_ one? She wasn't really looking forward to lugging, or even levitating, three sticks back out to the clearing where James was setting up the tent.

Closing her eyes, Lily spun in a circle twice and then pointed at random, hoping that she was pointing at one of the sticks. She cracked open one of her eye lids, and was instantly pleased with herself. She had picked the middle stick, which she was almost positive was the best of the three, anyway.

Just was she was about to retrieve the chosen stick from the line of three, she heard laughter behind her. Turning, she saw all four boys staring at her with bemused looks on their faces. James, however, found it utterly hilarious, and couldn't stop the chuckle from escaping his lips.

"What in the name of Merlin are you doing, Love?"

"I'm picking a stick!" Lily said, haughtily. "What do you think I'm doing?"

"I don't know. Some kind of weird little jig? What was with the spinning?" Sirius asked, his grin growing as the blush spread up her neck and finally, onto her cheeks.

"Oh hush, you lot. I couldn't decide which stick to take." she glared at him.

"And, what did you decide?" Peter asked, still clearly amused with the situation.

"The middle one."

"What's that, Love, we couldn't hear you," James said, snickering with his friends.

"Oh, you lot think you're bloody hilarious! Just remember, I'm out here doing my stupid little jig to find a stick because you were too drunk to remember all the pieces to your tent!"

This sent the boys over the edge, and Lily couldn't help but smile as they looked at each other and accepted their defeat before laughing.

"And, because you're so rude, one of you gets to carry my stick back to camp."

* * *

After some more bickering from Sirius and James, and a few off color comments ("Is that a stick, or are you happy to see me, Prongs?"), the tent was set up.

It was a little bit lopsided, mostly due to the stick substituting for the actual rod that belonged with the tent, but it was standing and fully secured to the ground, which was all Lily really could have hoped for, all things considered.

Gingerly, Lily unzipped the door to the tent and folded it back. She knew that she shouldn't have been surprised with what she saw inside. She should have learned her lesson years ago that in the magical world, things were rarely what they seemed to be.

The first room in the tent was a sort of common room area. Lily saw her big stick propping up the ceiling in an area over by an old, ratty sofa. Not only was there a sitting area, but also a small kitchenette, and Lily remembered seeing a chimney coming out of the room when she first approached the lopsided tent. There was a small, round kitchen table set off one side of the door, and a large, old fashion wood burning stove ("For heat, and cooking," James informed her).

Not entirely surprised, Lily found another room attached to the main living area. This room had no furniture in it, save for a cot that Remus had brought along with him ("I may be a werewolf, but I have standards."). Instead, there were four sleeping bags littered haphazardly on the floor of the tent, which, Lily noted as she walked into the room, had some kind of cushioning charm.

"Nice work, boys," She said, still slightly awestruck by the whole tent. "I can't believe it's so bloody huge," she added.

James slung his arm around her shoulders. "What, did you think we were going to go out into the woods with nothing? What do muggles do when they go camping?"

Lily stared at him for a moment before answering. "I'll tell you one thing, they don't take living room sets and kitchenettes with them."

* * *

After a quick lunch consisting of turkey sandwiches and potato chips, the five packed up their fishing gear, and of course a case of butterbeer to go fishing in the nearby lake.

The path leading from the clearing, where the tent was set up, to the lake was only wide enough for them to walk single file, and Sirius could barely fit through some of the more narrow spots lugging the thing of butterbeer.

Lily, with a beach towel hung over one shoulder, and a fishing pole leaning on the other, hummed to herself as they walked for about five minutes in relative silence before she could finally see the lake stretching out before them.

"That's beautiful," She observed.

Peter, who was walking behind her, nearly crashed into her when she stopped suddenly. Slightly agitated, he responded, "Yeah, yeah, it's a lot of water."

Lily chose to ignore him and continued walking along, watching where she placed her feet, not wanting to trip as James had when they first started following the trail.

Reaching the beach, she laid her towel out evenly on the sandy earth, kicked off her shoes and followed the others to the edge of the water, where Remus was putting fat, wiggling worms onto each of their hooks.

Lily wrinkled her nose when he did hers and muttered a gracious, "Thanks."

Soon, she was standing knee deep in the cool water, squishing the sandy bottom of the lake between her toes. She chatted quietly with James, who stood beside her, about his lousy fishing techniques, as she had already caught one and he hadn't had so much as a nibble.

"You're moving it too fast! The fish don't want to run out of breath chasing after it. And besides, they know it's not normal for a worm to move that fast."

"I don't think fish can run out of breath, Lily. And they don't know. They're fish. They're brains are the size of a pea."

Ignoring his rebuttal, Lily continued on, "And besides, I used to go fishing with my grandpa."

"Ah, that's right. He probably invented fishing, yeah?"

Lily smacked him on the arm, but laughed all the same. "Yeah, I'm sure he did."

_Splash_

Lily, who had been trying to make out her toes in the sandy bottom of the lake, looked up quickly, using her free hand to shield her eyes from the sun.

"Oh, shit." James said, laughing. "I think Sirius just dunked Moony."

Squinting, all Lily could see in the blinding glare off the surface of the water was Sirius treading water out ahead of her and James, large ripples heading her way, and a very wet, very irate Remus.

Peter, who took the brunt of the splash, was treading water along side Sirius. Lily couldn't hear what they were saying, but she was sure that they were trying to figure out the fastest way to escape from Remus.

"He looks pissed," Lily giggled. "I think he might kill them both."

"Nah, just Sirius. Peter was an innocent bystander, I think."

Lily nodded and watched as Sirius swam away and Remus chased after him. As soon as his feet could reach the bottom, he took off in a slow motion run, the only kind of running you can do in water.

Lily shrieked with laughter when Sirius ran past, nearly tripping and drenching both her and James, with Remus close behind. She turned, looking for Peter. When she spotted him, he was a struggling to keep the three fishing poles in his hands from tangling together with a look of utmost concentration.

"Hold this,"

Lily took the pole from him and watched as he went to save Peter from the tangled fishing line. She was soon distracted by barking, though, and turned to watch a large black dog bound into the water, splashing her once again.

Remus followed, shouting, "That's not fair! You bloody well know I can't compete with that." He shook his fist in mock anger before coming to rest beside Lily. "I hope he drowns, you know," he said nonchalantly, while he swung his arm around her shoulders.

Lily, swaying slightly under the weight and still balancing two fishing poles rolled her eyes and replied, "I doubt that."

"Yeah, you're right. But he did stuff my head under water when I wasn't paying attention. Nearly killed me, you know."

By this time, Sirius was back on shore, and back as a human, and walking back out to where Lily and Remus stood. He reached them just before Peter and James returned with the newly untangled poles.

James began doling them out. "Nice going, Padfoot," he said, handing him his pole. "You put on quite a show, swimming laps around us while we're trying to undo your damage."

Laughing, Sirius said, "You know me, mate. Anything for a laugh."

* * *

Lounging on her beach towel, Lily stretched out and felt the sun warm her. She sighed contentedly and closed her eyes against the harsh, golden light.

"I don't suppose you'd fancy a swim?"

Lily cracked open an eye. "I'm tanning, James."

"You don't tan. You'll burn and peel and then be just as pale as ever."

"Hey! I'll have more freckles. They're not pale."

"What do you say, huh? Got a swim suit on under those clothes?"

Sitting up, Lily considered for a second. "Where are the others?"

"Goofing off somewhere. "James smirked, "Why? Don't you have a swim suit on after all?"

"No!" Lily exclaimed. "I mean, yes, I do have one on. That's not why I was asking."

"Oh. Planning on snogging me senseless, then?"

Lily shrugged. "Maybe." James sat down next to her in the sand, shielding his eyes from the sun with his hand, and looked out at the lake.

"James?"

"Hmm?"

"Thanks for making me come with you." Lily sat up and scooted closer to him. "I haven't thought about anything off limits all day."

Before leaving, James had presented Lily with a list of appropriate and inappropriate things to think about while on vacation. The first thing on the inappropriate list had been "School/Work/Lack Thereof." Lily had laughed when she saw the list, and she appreciated the efforts that he went through to make sure she'd have a good time on their trip.

"I didn't _make_ you come," James said indignantly.

"Oh, yes you did!"

"How? What did I do to make you come?"

"You know what you did!" Lily said, laughing. "You got your friends to stand behind you all anxious and scared, and you had that stupid smile on your face. How was I supposed to say no to that?"

James shrugged his shoulders and smirked. Not even trying to deny it anymore, he said, "Yeah, we are pretty good, aren't we?"

"What was the big deal, anyway? Why was it so important for me to come?"

Lily, who heard shouting somewhere in the woods behind them, and then a dog barking, abandoned her unanswered question and asked, "What are they up to?"

"I'm not concerned. When it gets quiet, that's when we need to worry."

"Ah, I see."

"Now, let's get back to that idea about snogging me senseless. I was quite intrigued, you know."

Lily laughed and shoved him slightly, but decided to oblige him anyway. "What about it?"

"I was thinking I might like to give that a whirl."

* * *

A/N: I have been playing with this idea for a while, and I had most of this chapter written even before I started "Truth Be Told." And, I'll admit, the reason I decided to cut the last chapter of that in half is because I was a little preoccupied with fixing this up to make it worthy of public viewing. Let me know what you think!


	2. Chapter 2

**Camping**

**Chapter Two**

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After an afternoon playing in the sun on the sandy lakeshore, Lily and James packed up their fishing poles and beach towels and walked the narrow path back to the clearing. When they arrived, they found a newly built fire ring, a large pile of firewood, and the smell of dinner cooking.

"About time," Sirius said, throwing an arm around each Lily and James. "What were you kids up to, anyway?"

Lily rolled her eyes at Sirius' innuendo and wiggling eyebrows and shrugged his arm off of her shoulders. "You, sir, are a pervert."

"But that's why we love you," James said, clapping him on the back. "Only you could make an innocent day at the lake sound dirty."

After sitting down to a dinner of fresh fish and helping Peter clean up after, Lily found herself sitting on a stump outside the tent fiddling with her wand and thinking about number one on the "Unacceptable Things to Think About on Vacation" list James gave her: her lack of a job.

She had taken the highest level possible for all of her classes at Hogwarts so that the world would be open to her, but she just didn't know where to start. She was just contemplating the idea of having _too many_ options when her thoughts were interrupted by James.

"I was wondering where you got off to," he said, standing behind her, rubbing her shoulders.

"You found me."

"You're not breaking the rules, are you? You _look_ like you're breaking the rules," he said suspiciously.

Lily laughed. "You know me too well. What were you up to?"

"Just helping out with the fire. Come on, it's getting dark out and Sirius is about to light it. That should be a good time."

Pocketing her wand, Lily stood up and followed James out to the fire ring where someone had set up the chairs from the kitchenette around the fire. Just as Lily chose a seat between Remus and James, Sirius strutted up to the fire with his wand out.

"Oh, no, everyone watch your eyebrows, Padfoot's got his wand out." Peter said, slapping a hand over his own eyebrows in jest.

"Don't worry, Wormtail, yours will be the first to go!" Sirius said, pointing his wand at the small triangle of wood and kindling. He muttered a spell and a small flame jumped from the end of his wand and ignited the kindling. When he was done, he put his wand back into his pocket and admired his handy work. "Not bad, eh?"

"We're all impressed, Sirius, though I don't know why. You've only had seven years of formal schooling. If you can't start a fire by now…" Lily trailed off, shaking her head mockingly.

When everyone was finally seated around the fire, they all seemed mesmerized by the glowing red embers and the flickering orange flames that leaped and licked the wood. Every few seconds the wood would emit a small _pop_ or _hiss_ as the fire did its work. Lily could feel her eyelids growing heavy as she watched the dancing flames, and knew that if she didn't speak up, she would fall asleep right there. She wasn't sure if she could trust the others not to push her into the fire.

"You know what we need?" Lily asked, suddenly, breaking everyone out of their fire induced trance.

"Hmm?"

"Marshmallows. Where are those sticks I got earlier?" Sitting up straighter in her chair, Lily looked excitedly around at her friends.

Remus shook his head. "Do we even have marshmallows?"

"I brought some," Lily said, standing up. "Now where are those sticks?"

Peter attempted to hide his guilty face as he muttered, "Well…er…I think they may be in the fire, now."

"What! You burned my sticks?"

"No!" Peter cried, "It was all Sirius," he said, pointing an accusing finger at Sirius. Lily swiveled to glare at him.

"Way to go, Black." Lily winked at him before she stood up and started towards the edge of the clearing.

"It's pretty dark out, Lily. Are you sure you want to go looking for sticks? We can have marshmallows tomorrow." James said.

Mocking him, Lily gasped and pulled out her wand. "What is this thing for? Lumos!" she cried, waving the lit wand around in the air, causing it to shoot off sparks.

"Oh, alright, you win." James sighed and stood up to follow her into the trees, shaking his head.

"Do you even know what you're looking for?" Lily asked, rounding on James who was muttering under his breath.

"Sticks."

Lily sighed theatrically. "We need long skinny sticks to roast marshmallows on."

Mocking her sigh, James lit the end of his wand and began sweeping the light around the trees. "What were you thinking about earlier?" He asked suddenly, putting his light on her. "You looked so serious."

Lily shrugged. "Just stuff. You were right, I was breaking the rules. Did you find any sticks?"

"Don't change the subject, Lily. Forget the rules for a second. We can talk, if you want."

Bending to pick up a stick, Lily admitted, "I don't know what I want to do with my life."

"Oh, is _that_ all?" James laughed. "Join the club, Love. There's a war, out there. It's not as if our lives are going to be normal even if we could just go out and pick a job."

"Stupid war," Lily said, picking up another stick. "What do you want to do?"

"I don't want to rush into anything," James said. "I'm thinking of maybe finding something at the ministry until I figure out what I really want to do."

Lily thought about this for a second while she walked over to where James was standing, still sweeping his wand around the woods. She put down her pile of sticks and hugged him. With her arms around his middle and her head on his shoulder she said, "I'm scared."

"Don't be scared. You'll always have me, and the others."

"Yes, and you lot are exactly the type to say you're going to take a ministry job and then go out and get yourselves killed in this damn war."

James laughed, "Come on, let's get back. Sirius probably lit someone, if not himself, on fire by now. He can't be trusted."

Lily picked up her marshmallow sticks and said, "See, you know I'm right. You're just changing the subject so you don't have to admit it."

As Lily and James approached the edge of the clearing, they had a clear view of the others gathered around the fire. Lily stopped short at what she saw before her.

Sirius was chasing a small rodent, which Lily assumed was Peter in his rat form, and Remus was chasing Sirius.

"Do you reckon he's trying to roast Wormtail?" James asked with very little concern in his voice.

"He is carrying a stick," Lily observed, still not walking forward.

"Oy! Pettigrew. Get back here you little ratfink," Sirius called out, trying to hold back his laughter. "I promise I won't eat you."

Remus, panting, stopped beside Sirius and added, "Yeah, Peter. He's really sorry. Besides, just call the pound on him next time he's wondering around as a dog."

Lily watched as Sirius spun to face Remus. "What! Don't give the pea brained one any ideas."

"Hey! I'm not pea brained," Peter said indignantly, having transformed back into his human self. "James, tell them I'm not pea brained."

James laughed and put his hands up defensively. "I'm not involved in this little spat."

Peter rolled his eyes and made a dismissive motion with his hand, "Oh, what good are you? Go back into the woods and snog your girlfriend."

Lily and James made their way back to their seats around the fire, picking their way through the mess Sirius and Peter created.

"What exactly was that all about, anyway," James asked Remus.

He simply shook his head. "Oh, you know. Pete questioned his manhood. Nothing new."

James nodded knowingly. "He went for the hair, didn't he?"

"All this over his hair?" Lily asked incredulously. "You're kidding, right?"

James shook his head solemnly. "Do you remember what happened to your friend Susan in Ravenclaw?"

Lily closed her eyes and leaned back in her seat for a moment, trying to recall. She sat straight and her eyes snapped open. "He made her bald because she picked on his hair?"

Sirius, who had finally decided to forgive Peter and had wondered back over to the group said, "You're talking about Susan from Ravenclaw, aren't you? That girl got what she had coming, if you ask me."

Lily laughed, remembering the day she had gone to the hospital wing for a headache potion and found her friend sulking behind the curtains, hiding her bald head under the blankets. Lily had never asked her just why all of the sudden the Marauders had targeted kind and quiet Susan.

"I can't believe you lot did that to her. She's such a nice girl."

Remus raised his eyebrows. "Don't implicate the rest of us. It was all Padfoot," he said, nodding toward his dark haired friend who was currently stuffing a marshmallow on the end of one of the sticks Lily and James retrieved from the woods.

"If you catch that on fire, don't fling it at me," James said. "I don't feel like explaining that one to my mother again."

Sirius grinned and stuffed his marshmallow into the fire, allowing the flames to lick at the fluffy white substance until it became hard and black. "Perfect!" he cried, pulling it out. Lily watched in amusement as he, having barely waited three seconds for the charred marshmallow to cool, pulled it off the stick and stuffed it into his mouth.

"Wait for it.." a voice trialed off behind Lily. She recognized it as Peter, and when she turned she saw that he stopped midway through retrieving a roasting stick for himself to watch the skeptical Sirius was putting on.

Lily was about to ask what, but Sirius answered her question.

"AWT! AWT!" He cried, spitting the marshmallow out onto the ground and waving his hands in front of his face. "Olly other of Od its AWT!"

The other four were unable to help their friend as he flailed around having burnt his mouth on a still smoking marshmallow.

_Oh my,_ Lily thought to herself as she sat hunched over in laughter, _this trip was definitely worth it_. Wiping a stray tear from her face, she sat up straight again to see Sirius glaring at them from across the fire. His arms were crossed over his chest, and he had a wounded expression on his face.

"Thanks for that," he said. "I may have maimed my mouth and all you can do is laugh like a hyenas!"

This, of course, sent Lily into a new fit of hysterics. "Sirius!" she said through her laughter, "You…it…it was still on fire!" she finally managed to get the words out.

"She's right, mate. You should've known better," Remus said, still chuckling lightly.

Sirius, realizing defeat, shrugged his shoulders and said, "Prongs, toss me another."

* * *

Having eaten almost an entire bag of marshmallows (the remainder of the marshmallows was tossed into the fire to expand until they finally collapsed in on themselves, much to Sirius and Peter's sugar altered amusement.) the group of five wore themselves out shouting insults and shooting harmless hexes across the fire at once another.

Once again mesmerized by the rhythmic flickering of orange flames, the column of smoke that more than once attacked Lily ("Smoke follows beauty, you know!" James had teased, much to her embarrassment), and the constant hiss and pop of burning wood, the group had lapsed into an uncharacteristically long silence. It was Peter who finally spoke up.

"I can't believe we won't be going back to Hogwarts," he said, not taking his eyes away from the fire.

It stayed silent for a moment longer while everyone thought about the implications of having graduated from school.

"Don't worry, Pete. You'll find something you like, " James assured him.

"You'll be better off than me," Lily said. "At least people will consider hiring you. I'm a muggleborn, the ministry isn't even acknowledging my applications."

Because of the war and increasing discrimination against muggles and muggle born witches and wizards, it was becoming nearly impossible for anyone of muggle heritage to find a ministry job. Lily had spent the week before the camping trip sending in applications for any position she could find open, and, unfortunately, with all of the sudden disappearances and deaths going on, there were a lot of open positions. She had received an owl thanking her interest and assuring her that the position had already been filled for each one that she had sent it.

Remus, who was in much the same situation as Lily because of his being a werewolf, said, "I don't know what you're worried about, Lily. You'll marry James and have lots of red haired babies."

Lily snorted with laughter, and James protested weakly, "I'm sure one of them will look like me!"

"Remus is right, Lily. You've got it made. You'll be a kept woman, you know."

"Shut up, Sirius." Lily could feel herself blushing as the boys erupted in laughter around her.

"Come on, Lily, after making him jump through all those hoops to get you to date him, the least you could do is marry him,"

"Oh, hush! I'm barely eighteen, you know," Lily hid her face because her red cheeks made the boys laugh even harder.

"Ah, young love!" Peter exclaimed in a falsetto. "Don't be embarrassed, Lily, we all know its going to happen. You're the only one denying it."

"Yeah, Lily, what's wrong with our mate? Good enough for a good time, but not for the rest of your life?" Sirius teased, tossing a pebble her way to get her to look up.

"You _guys_," Lily whined, "It's not fair for you to gang up on me like this!"

Her protests only brought on more laughter.

"James! Why aren't you saying anything? Shouldn't you be rescuing me? I'm going to be your kept woman, after all."

James shrugged. "Nah, it's more fun this way."

Lily hit him playfully in the arm and was about to say something when they were all interrupted by a _crack_ that seemed to echo through the woods behind the tent.

Lily's heart began to race as she, like her friends, began scanning the perimeter of their small clearing. Suddenly, she began to feel claustrophobic, like the woods, and whatever or whoever was in them, were closing in around them, trapping them.

_Crack. Crack._

Still, the noises kept coming from the same general area. Lily stared hard at the tent, as though she could see through it and through the woods on the other side of it.

Suddenly, her world went dark as someone had put out the fire. She felt strong hands grab her and pull her in the opposite direction of where she had been looking at the tent. She didn't' dare breathe a word until they figured out who was apparating so close to their campsite, and why where were so many of them.

Once they were into the dark woods on the other side of their small clearing, James lit the tip of his wand and quickly swept it over the group to be sure everyone was there. Four ashen faces stared back at him in the dim light of his wand.

"What's going on?" Lily whispered as James put his wand out again, not wanting to draw any attention to their location. Lily was sure that no one had noticed their camp yet, because she couldn't hear any thing other than an occasional _crack_ as someone apparated into the woods.

"I'm going in," Peter whispered.

"Just hang on," Remus said. "We need a plan."

"No one will notice me. I'm going. Just stay here."

"Pete, wait," Lily whispered. "What if they put up a detection charm?"

"I'm a rat, Lily. I don't think anyone is going to think twice about a rat wondering through the woods."

James sighed impatiently. "In and out, Wormtail. Just find out who they are,"

Lily saw a small flash of light and then everything was darker than it had seemed moments before. "James?"

"He'll be fine," James reassured her, squeezing the hand he still held from when he led her out of the clearing. "He does this kind of thing all the time."

Lily nodded, even though she knew no one could see her.

They waited in silence; no one dared speak or breathe too loudly in case they were discovered. It seemed like no one had even realized that people were camping in the area right next to where they were apparating.

Lily jumped a little when she saw another small flash of light.

"I'm back," Peter whispered, panting slightly.

"Well?" Sirius asked impatiently.

"Death Eaters. About twenty of them," Peter said.

* * *

A/N: Hello! Sorry about the delay in posting this. I couldn't find the time to really do much of anything this week because of work, but now it's Friday and I finally had some peace and quiet that's not due to my insomnia.

Chapter three won't, I hope, take as long to get done as this chapter did. On that note, thank you so much to everyone who reviewed and favorited chapter one. You're too kind


	3. Chapter 3

**Camping**

**Chapter Three

* * *

**

_**Previously…**_

_They waited in silence; no one dared speak or breathe too loudly in case they were discovered. It seemed like no one had even realized that people were camping in the area right next to where they were apparating. _

_Lily jumped a little when she saw another small flash of light._

"_I'm back," Peter whispered, panting slightly._

"_Well?" Sirius asked impatiently._

"_Death Eaters. About twenty of them," Peter said.

* * *

_

Lily gasped and put her hand over her chest, as if to try and calm her pounding heart.

"Shit…" she heard someone whisper, though, it was so quiet she could hardly tell who it had been.

"What do we do?" Remus asked, voicing the question that was on everyone's mind. "There are twenty Death Eaters over past our camp, and there are five of us huddled in the woods with no protection. What do we do?"

"I haven't heard anyone come in a few minutes," Sirius said. "Do you think they're going to search the area? I mean, why would they just show up in the middle of the woods and not make sure no one was around?"

"Think about it, Padfoot," James said. "Why else would they do it in the middle of the woods? They wouldn't need to check because who would be around?"

Lily, who had kept quiet, letting the other figure out what to do, finally spoke up. With her voice quavering in fear she asked Peter, "Did you hear anything while you were over there?"

"No, but I'm going back."

"No!" James hissed. "I don't care if you're a rat or not. You can't just go crashing a Death Eater meeting."

Lily found her voice again. "I think he should go."

"What?" James asked. Even though it was dark, she could feel her eyes burning into her.

"Well…if he goes, he might hear something important. Maybe what he hears could save lives?"

It was silent for a second, and Lily could feel the blackness of the night close in around her. Finally, Remus spoke, "I think she's right, James."

"Besides, mate, I think we all know if she weren't here you'd be the first one over there to eavesdrop," Sirius added, and Lily was sure that he was right.

"I could come back and warn you if they say anything about looking around. I could beat them back here and we can get out of this place," Peter continued, ignoring Sirius' comment completely.

Lily could imagine the look on James' face as he thought about their arguments and eventually gave in. It would be the same look that she had when he had first approached her with the idea of a weekend camping trip.

Lily trained her eyes to where she thought James' face would be so that she could get a glimpse of it when Peter transformed into Wormtail, but she found she was disappointed when he went away from their immediate group, so as to not draw attention direction to them if someone had seen the light.

Someone sighed in the darkness, and Lily, still refusing to lose her grip on James' hand in the darkness so she wouldn't get disorientated and separated if they needed to move again, quietly sat down on the earth below her.

"Whose idea was this place, anyway?" Remus asked. "We've never come to this side of the lake before."

"Peter's," Sirius said. Lily could hear him moving around and she thought that he might have been sitting, too. She tried to gauge where they were based on their voices. Sirius, it seemed was directly in front of her, while Remus was on her other side.

"Do you guys go camping often? I thought you hadn't been since you lost the pole for the tent?" Lily asked, remembering earlier in the day when she had been sent out to find a stick to replace the lost piece of tent. She shuttered to think of what would have happened if the Death Eaters had decided to have their meeting over tea instead of in the middle of the night.

"Well, last year we didn't get to go because that was the year Sirius and I were abroad most of the summer," James said.

It seemed like hours had gone by while Lily sat unmoving on the ground in the total darkness when the group heard the first of a long series of _crack_s indicating that their company was finally heading home.

Lily tried to keep count of the number of people she could hear disapparating, but because some people were leaving at the same time, she was quickly thrown off count.

"Where the bloody hell is Peter?" James hissed.

"Reckon I should go after him?" Sirius asked, and Lily could hear him moving around, most likely standing up.

"No," Lily said. "He'll come back. He was probably just making sure everyone had gone."

"I'm going," James said. Sirius and Lily both began to protest, but he cut them off. "Dogs don't live in the woods"

Without another word, James transformed into a stag and began weaving his way through the darkness.

"Remus? Sirius? Where are you?" Lily whispered trying not to panic and reaching out her hand into the darkness. Her eyes not yet adjusted after the small flash of light.

"I think I'm across from you," Sirius said, confirming where Lily had placed him based on his voice earlier as his own reaching hand touched hers.

She felt a hand touch her shoulder, making her jump. "I'm sorry!" Remus whispered. "It was me. I thought you were close by, I just didn't know you were that close."

"It's ok," she said, trying to quiet her breathing. "I'll just be glad when this is over."

"I haven't heard anything in a few minutes," Sirius said. "I'm just going to look and see what's going on."

Lily heard Remus sigh and mutter, "And then there were two."

Lily allowed a small, humorless chuckle to escape her lips before she said, "You don't plan on leaving me here alone, do you?"

"Of course not."

"Good. I'm probably going to kill James if he's not already dead."

This time it was Remus who chuckled, but before he could answer, three pinpricks of light penetrated the darkness around them.

"Moony, where the hell are you?" Sirius said, finally speaking at a normal volume.

"We're over here," Remus called, lighting his own wand. He gave Lily a hand up off the ground and then she lit her own wand before following him over to where the other three members of their group stood.

"What happened to you? We thought you were dead!" Lily scolded. "We were worried about you," She said. She gave each of them quick hug, and then glared at them for a moment. "You can't just all run off like that, leaving us stranded in the woods."

"They didn't know we were here," Peter said. "Apparently someone had checked out the area earlier, before we got here, and no one was around."

"What did you find out?" Remus asked.

Before he could answer, though, Lily asked, "Can we talk inside. I'm getting the creeps standing out here in the dark."

"Of course, Love," James said, ignoring the fact that she continued to glare at him for running off after Peter.

"Let me get this straight," James asked, putting his mug of tea down on the table in the tent. "They said how many were in the ministry already?"

"Fifteen," Peter replied. "They said that they already had fifteen spies in place at the Ministry, and that they were working on another fifteen, except that something was in their way."

"And they didn't say what that something was?" Remus asked, his brow furrowed in confusion.

"No."

"And they didn't use names?" Sirius asked. "You couldn't see their faces and they didn't use names. How are we supposed to know what to tell Dumbledore?"

Peter shrugged. "I suppose we tell him what we know."

Lily sighed and looked around the table at the faces of her friends. The faces that surrounded her were not the happy faces of wizards who had just graduated from school, they were the faces of adults who were thrust into a war they didn't ask for. Peter's face was pale and his hands were trembling, much like her own, around the cup of tea that sat in front of him. Remus' brow was constantly furrowed, and he tapped his fingers absentmindedly on the table. Sirius was hunched forward with his head in his hands, taking in every word that was spoken around him. James continued to remove his glasses and pinch the bridge of his nose before replacing them.

"What else did they say?" James asked for the third time.

Peter obliged, telling him the same thing he had the first two times. "They said that there was more and more resistance in the ministry, and that they needed to act quickly if they were going to pull it off."

"I don't understand," Sirius said, finally lifting his head out of his hands. "It doesn't make any sense. Is getting fifteen more of their guys in the ministry what they're pulling off? Or are they getting fifteen guys in to do the pulling off?"

"I think we've heard enough," Remus said, shaking his head. "We're all tired. Maybe we should go to sleep. We'll figure it out in the morning."

"I just don't get it," Sirius muttered again before draining his cup of tea.

* * *

Lily rolled over in her sleeping bag so that she was facing James. She watched him study the wall of the tent for a moment before she spoke in a whisper. "You are planning on telling Dumbledore what Peter heard, aren't you?"

James, who had been deep in thought, jolted slightly at her the sound of her soft voice in the silence. He rolled in his own sleeping bag to face her. "Yes, I do. I just wish I had more to tell him, you know?"

Lily nodded her head and sighed, settling back into her pillow. "That certainly put a damper on things, now didn't it."

James snorted, "You could put it that way, I suppose."

"What way would you put it?" Lily teased with a small yawn.

She never found out, though, because before he could answer, a loud, rumbling snore filled the tent, making her jump up.

"What in the name of Merlin _is_ that?"

"Oh, that?" James said nonchalantly. "That's just Peter."

"What do you mean, 'that's just Peter?'" Lily demanded, sitting up in her sleeping bag and peering into the darkness towards Peter's.

James sat up as well, and shrugged his shoulders. "You get used to it,"

Lily looked at him skeptically and said, "No wonder you were such a prat all those years. You lot were just sleep deprived." She flopped back down into her pillow and fidgeted for a moment before she got comfortable again.

"Just ignore it, Lily."

Ignore it? He wanted her to ignore that deafening sound? She was positive that Peter's snores we were so loud that had the Death Eaters showed up for their little party a little bit later, they would all be dead. She was also certain that his snores would be able to guide ships through the fog, warning them of rocky patches in shallow water.

"Fine," Lily hissed reluctantly, "I'll ignore it, but I'm going to complain about it for the rest of the trip."

"I have no doubt that you will. Good night, Lily," James said, before rolling back over to face the wall of the tent.

* * *

The next morning, Lily woke feeling surprisingly rested, all things considered. She had been certain that she would never fall asleep between the fear and adrenaline the Death Eater incident had pumped through her veins, and Peter's deafeningly loud snoring which had seemed to go on forever.

Lily stretched while her eyes adjusted to being awake. As she looked around the room filled with jumbled sleeping bags, she realized that she had been the last one to wake up. She felt a bit uncomfortable, and thoughts of her friends being kidnapped ran through her mind, but she pushed them aside and told herself that she was being silly.

She sat for a moment longer, waiting for the last vestiges of sleep to leave her. Just as she was about to stand up, she noticed whispering coming from the adjoining living area. She tried unsuccessfully to hear what they were talking about, and then scolded herself for being silly. Of course they were whispering, they thought she was asleep!

Stretching her back, which was sore from sleeping on the ground, despite the cushioning charms placed on the floor of the tent, she walked into the living area.

At once, the voices stopped. The three men around the table threw her bright smiles and greeted her. "Good morning," she said, suddenly suspicious.

"How'd you sleep," Sirius asked, handing her a steaming mug.

She eyed him warily and then took the mug from his hands. "Fine, I suppose."

She took an empty seat at the table and looked around at the faces peering at her. "Well? What are we talking about?"

"Nothing."

"Quidditch."

"Breakfast."

The three answered at once and confirmed Lily's suspicions. They were definitely keeping something from her. And, wait a minute. There were only three of them. Sirius was seated to her left, Remus to her right, and Peter sat across the table from her. The three of them threw each other glares, and the table shook as someone mistakenly kicked it.

"Where's James?" Lily said, more as a demand than as a question.

"Well…You see." Remus started, but then stopped and cleared his throat.

Lily narrowed her eyes at him, "What? Don't tell me the fool's run off to Dumbledore right now?"

She couldn't help but miss the defeated glances that Peter and Sirius exchanged. She turned on Peter, the one who she figured she could break the easiest, and said, "So he is, then? Gone to Dumbledore?"

Peter, who refused to look her in the eye said, "Bacon. We forgot to bring bacon."

Lily nearly laughed, "And, on his trip to go get bacon, did he happen to stop by and visit someone, perhaps?"

Sirius stepped in and said, "Oh, Lily. You're probably still sleeping. We should get you back to your bag, yeah?"

Lily laughed. "I can't believe how bad a lying you are! Anyway, I figured he wouldn't be able to hold his tongue until we got home tomorrow. I won't tell him you told me."

The three seemed relieved at this, and Remus walked over to the stove. "Do you want some breakfast? I'm about to make pancakes and…um…just pancakes," He said, shutting the icebox quickly and leaning against it.

"Oh, come off it. Just make the bacon. I know it's in there." Lily said, taking a sip of her tea. "Really, though. It does amaze me how you keep on sticking up for him even when he's been found out."

"Who's been found out?"

Lily turned and couldn't help but smile at what she saw. James was leaning against the doorway to the tent as though he'd been there all along and it was she who had just showed up.

"You, of course," she said, standing to give him a quick hug. "I know all about your little secret."

"What?" James asked, his face paling slightly. Over her head, Sirius and Remus shook their heads furiously. This seemed to calm him slightly.

"I know that you went to Dumbledore. I had hoped that you'd wait for the rest of us." Lily said, taking her seat at the table again. She did not notice the relief flood over his features as he sat down where Sirius had previously.

* * *

"Do you think that we should move? To the other side of the lake, I mean?" Lily asked later that evening while she and Sirius were gathering more firewood.

"Nah," he said, shaking his head. "I don't think it'll be a problem. They don't really ever use the same place twice for meetings like that."

Lily looked at him questioningly, so he continued. "What I mean is, if Voldemort's not with them, when they have little impromptu meetings like the one they had last night, they pick a random spot. They won't come back."

"Why is that?" Lily asked, sitting down on a log for a break from gathering.

"They're too afraid they'll be found out. The ministry can track apparating. It would set off alarms if they were constantly sending twenty people to the same place."

Lily, still very confused, nodded her head anyway. "How do you know all of this stuff?" She asked, although she regretted it immediately after.

"My family. Surely you know that." Sirius answered, giving her a weak smile.

Lily nodded and went back to gathering wood with her wand. "I'm glad you're not like them," She said, suddenly.

Surprised by her outburst, Sirius nearly dropped the log he was levitating towards the edge of the woods. "Me too."

"Hey, Sirius," she called as he made to follow the log out of the woods. "What's James really up to?"

Sirius simply smiled mischievously, the way that she was used to him smiling, and shrugged his shoulders before walking out into the clearing to stack the wood.

* * *

A/N: So, that was basically the fastest update in the history of all that is history, just so we're all clear. Part of it was because it's the weekend, but mostly, I just felt guilty about what I did to you last chapter. I tried to stop it somewhere else, but it just seemed to keep going into the never ending chapter.

As always thank you to those who took the time to review/favorite/alert! I'm so happy that people are enjoying this.


	4. Chapter 4

**Camping**

**Chapter Four  
**

Lily stood staring at Sirius Black's retreating back trying to figure out just what it was that he was keeping from her. It was really beginning to drive her crazy. She knew that they had been lying when she began playing along with their pathetic lie about James going to Dumbledore. She knew very well that they would have all gone, and Peter especially. He was, after all, the one who had heard the things they were going to report.

She couldn't figure out what it was that they were keeping from her, or where her boyfriend had been, but she knew she would. Yes, she was very positive that it was only a matter of time before she broke one of them, namely, James.

Her plan, though, hadn't been really been working out. Every time she approached James throughout the day he would throw her a charming smile and then push her off on someone else. The last time that he did it, she had walked over to him while he was sitting on the ground, lazily splitting wood with some spell she had never heard of.

"Watch out, there, Lily. Don't want you to get a splinter in the eye!" He'd said, dropping the piece of wood he had just split roughly on the ground, causing a wave of dust and dirt to go flying up around it.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "I know you're up to something, Potter," she had managed before she began choking on the dust in the air. She pointed a finger at him as she allowed Peter to lead her off the tent. She could have sworn that she heard James laughing at her over her coughing.

"I don't suppose you're going to tell me anything," Lily asked Peter, plopping down on a chair in the tent.

"Not a chance."

"I didn't think so," she said, twirling her wand around. "I didn't really think you would. You know, James always said that you were the first to crack under pressure. I don't agree."

"What?" Peter said, caught off guard by her new tactics. She tried to hide a smile as the boy sat down on the sofa across from her.

She nodded her head, continuing to twirl her wand around. "Oh yeah. They all think so. It must not be that big of a secret if they've gone and told you."

Peter looked at her skeptically and ran a hand through his hair. "You're bluffing," he said.

Lily laughed. "Am I?"

"Oh yeah. You're definitely bluffing," Peter said decidedly. "You're not a very good liar, Lily Evans."

She smiled and shrugged her shoulders at him. "Yeah, well, neither are you." She sat up straighter in her chair and said, "But I did have you going for a second there, didn't I?"

Peter rolled his eyes. "Maybe for half a second. Definitely not more than that."

"Definitely not," Lily agreed, already distracted again by what big secret the four of them were keeping from her.

Peter left soon after their conversation, but Lily couldn't help but notice it wasn't before Remus came wandering into the tent.

He took Peter's place on the sofa, nodding a hello to Lily.

"Ah, I see it's your turn to babysit me, then."

Remus chuckled. "You could say that, I suppose."

Lily rolled her eyes. "Did you boys honestly believe I would never catch on?"

Playing innocent, Remus asked, "Catch on to what?"

Lily got up from her chair and joined him on the opposite end of the sofa. "Catch on to the fact that James is avoiding me and the rest of you are taking turns not letting me out of your sight. Not to mention the fact that you come up with the worst lies ever!"

"I would have come up with a better lie, but you weren't supposed to wake up when you did. Peter put a sleeping spell on you. You weren't supposed to know James was even gone."

Lily's eyes widened. "Why on earth would you let Peter of all people use magic on me? Do you not remember the memory charm incident of fifth year?"

Remus patted her knee comfortingly. "Don't worry, Sirius supervised."

"Oh, that makes it so much better." Lily leaned back into the couch. "You're lucky I ever woke up. I couldn't remember my name for three days after Peter got done with me last time."

"Yeah…when you got your memory back, you were pretty pissed that James told you that he was your boyfriend." Remus chuckled, remembering the look on her face when she spontaneously recovered her memory in the middle of the great hall a few days after the incident in charms class.

Lily nodded. The two sat in silence for a moment before Remus spoke up.

"Listen, Lily. You'll find out about the secret when you find out. It's best not to dwell on it, and just enjoy the rest of the day. Trust me."

Lily looked at him suspiciously. "I assume that this secret is the reason that it was oh so important for me to join you four on this trip?"

"Oh Lily," Remus said, standing up and heading towards the kitchenette. "You know what they say about assuming."

"I think we both know that you don't need my help to make an ass out of yourself, Remus."

The way she saw it, she had two choices. Her first option was to continually badger the boys until she finally broke someone, which, hadn't been going so well. Her second was to take Remus' advice and just let the secret come up on its own.

Against her better judgment, she decided to drop the issue and spend the rest of the day reading by the lake. She gathered her towel and her sunscreen, and the latest book in a series of mystery novels. She was hoping to know who done it by the time the sun went down.

"James!" She called, when we left the tent to head for the lake. She looked around, but she didn't see him anywhere. Instead she saw Sirius strolling over to her.

"He's busy. Super secret, I might add," Sirius said winking at her. He linked arms with her and said, "Where are we off to, darling? I'm to make sure you don't interfere."

Lily snorted. "Don't worry, Sirius. I've given up. I'm sure I'll find out what this secret is once one of, or all four of you are dead."

"Not all of our secrets are deadly, Lily," Sirius chided, walking along side her towards the path.

Lily gave him a look that clearly said she didn't believe him. "I hate to bring this up now, but you're illegal animagi, one of you is a werewolf, and you sneak off in the middle of the night to fight crime with a super secret organization. All three of those secrets are pretty dangerous, if you ask me."

Sirius shrugged. "Fair point, I suppose. But, we've kept other secrets too."

"Like what?" Lily asked as they separated to walk single file down the narrow path to the lake.

"Now, Lily, surely you don't think I'm that easy?"

"No, I'm genuinely asking you to tell me a nondangerous secret."

"Then it won't be a secret anymore."

"Have I ever not kept one of your secrets?" Lily asked, raising a questioning eyebrow.

"Well, no. But that's different. They're dangerous!" Sirius argued. He furrowed his brow for a second, but soon a goofy smile took over his face. "I've got one."

"Do tell," Lily said, stopping on the path and turning to face him. "And make it a good one!"

"Alright. You can't tell. This is super top secret stuff here."

Lily leaned forward conspiratorially and gave an encouraging nod. "Alright then, I'm ready. What is it?"

Sirius could hardly contain his laughter as he told her. "Do you remember the fight James and Peter had when we were fourth years?" Lily nodded. "Well, they weren't speaking because Peter _accidentally_ wore James' underwear every day for a week."

"That's really disgusting, Sirius."

"It gets better."

"Oh?"

"Oh yes. He _knew_ what he was doing because I bet him he wouldn't do it. James has no idea that I was behind it. He thought Peter was just that thick."

Lily covered her mouth to hide her giggles. "That is still disgusting, though. They were clean, right?"

Sirius shrugged. "Hard to tell. We didn't exactly have our laundry system perfected, you know."

Lily pulled a disgusted face and then turned to begin walking again. "That secret could be dangerous, you know. Dangerous for you, I mean."

Sirius laughed and followed along behind her. "You're just trying to get me to tell you more of our deepest, darkest secrets."

"Too right you are, Sirius."

Sirius quickly grew bored of watching Lily read a book, and produced a deck of cards from his pocket. "Teach me a muggle game, Lily." He said, tossing her the deck.

She put her book down and gave him an annoyed look. "Sirius! I'm busy right now. I'm just about to find out who killed Sheila!"

"Does it matter? It was probably the husband's lover anyway." Sirius said, whining slightly. "I'm so bored!"

Lily sighed and admitted defeat. She knew that it would only get worse if she didn't indulge him. "Alright. What gave would you like me to teach you?"

"Oh, the one about fish, definitely." Sirius said. "I've always liked fish, you know."

Lily gave him a strange look. "Are you talking about Go Fish?"

Sirius nodded. "Yeah! That's what it's called. I figured it would be easy to learn here, since, you know, there's fish everywhere."

Lily burst out laughing, not even trying to cover it up. "Sirius, you do realize that there aren't any _real_ fish in Go Fish?"

"What?" Sirius said, slightly dejected. "What the hell do you do when someone says go fish?"

Smiling, Lily began to explain the rules of the game to her friend. When she had finished he looked at her a little oddly and said, "That's all…there's really no fish?"

"No!" Lily said exasperated. "There's no fish."

"It seems a little bit…lame,"

Rolling her eyes she replied, "Yes well it's usually played by eight year olds."

"Well, that's ok. I know of a way we can spice this up," Sirius said, grinning mischievously.

"I'm not getting naked, Sirius."

"Who said anything about naked? Besides, James would maim me." Sirius stood and stretched, still grinning. "We'll just do shots, is all."

"But that's not until later. We should head back now," He said, looking at her meaningfully. She didn't take his bait though, and simply began gathering her belongings and followed him back to the clearing.

Once they arrived, she noticed Remus and Peter were sitting around the empty fire ring. Both jumped up immediately when Lily and Sirius walked into the clearing.

"You're late," Peter said, giving Sirius a look that said he was in trouble, as Remus practically ran into the tent.

"Late for what?" Lily asked, watching carefully as Remus appeared again, carrying his cloak.

"We have an appointment," Sirius said, winking at her. "We'll be back later though. You'll be fine," he assured her before the three of them suddenly disappeared, leaving her standing alone in the clearing.

Fantastic. She had been lured out into the middle of no where and then abandoned there the night after they were very nearly discovered by a hoard of Death Eaters.

Confused did not even begin to describe the way Lily was feeling as she walked into the tent. What in the world was Sirius talking about? Why would they have scheduled an appointment during a camping trip? She wasn't exactly comfortable with the idea of staying behind. What if one of the Death Eaters came back because they forgot something the night before? The more she thought about the situation that they were putting her in, the more angry she became.

But then she saw James and relief washed over her. But then, as she smiled a hello at him, she became unbelievably nervous. Was this the secret? Why did everyone leave her and James there alone?

She knew that she shouldn't be nervous, it's not like they hadn't been alone together before, for heaven's sake. She walked over to the table, but tripped over her own feet before she could get there. James rushed to help her straighten herself out and she laughed nervously.

"I'm sorry," She said, her voice apologetic. "I don't know what happened there."

"S'okay," James said, smiling warmly to her. He gestured to the table and said, "Nice, right?"

For the first time, Lily noticed that the table was set, and that the tent was filled a delicious scent. "Did you make lasagna?" She asked, looking from the pan on the stove to James.

He grinned sheepishly and shuffled his feet. "Well. I had some help from your mum."

Lily couldn't help but laugh. "Is that were you were? Making lasagna with my mother?"

James shrugged. "Sit down! I hope it's good. I should have tried some, but I wanted to wait for you." He ushered her to her seat, giving no further answer to her question.

Remus' words about letting the big secret come out when it was going to came back to her and she smiled as she held her plate to James so he could place a square of cheesy lasagna on it.

She waited for James to sit across from her before she picked up her fork. "If I die, I just want to say thank you in advance. Lasagna is my favorite, you know."

"Of course I know that," James said, cutting into his piece of lasagna. "And if I die, I just want you to know that your mother poisoned me."

Giggling, Lily took her first bite. It was delicious. Of course, she knew it would be if her mother had anything to do with it. She was famous for her lasagna at home, after all. Anytime company came to visit or there was a potluck, everyone asked for it.

"It's amazing, James. Thank you," Lily said, smiling warmly.

She couldn't help but notice that however nervous she was at this unusual situation, James was about ten times worse off that she was. Throughout dinner he made lame jokes and then laughed nervously at them. He'd dropped his fork with a loud clatter at least three times, and he nearly choked on his drink at one point, causing Lily to jump up and try and help him.

After dinner was finished and the wishes washed and put away, Lily and James sat down on the couch in front of the fire. "I had a lovely time, James," Lily said, smiling and squeezing his hand. "I'm sorry I tried to ruin it by figuring out what you were up to."

James laughed lightly. "You're forgiven. And besides, that wasn't the secret."

"What?" Lily couldn't believe it. It had all made sense. He went to her house to make a lasagna with her mother, that's why he wasn't there when she woke up. "You were just buttering me up with a nice dinner, weren't you?" Lily asked accusingly.

"Kind of," James said, grinning broadly. "Just listen, alright?"

Lily tried to glare at him, but when she couldn't help but laugh at the nervous expression on his face, she settled for scowling at the fire instead. "I'm listening," she said after a few seconds of silence.

"You live in the muggle world, Lily," James started, but then he stopped and cleared his throat. "You're a witch, you know." Again he stopped and tried to search for the right words.

"I am a witch, yes." Lily confirmed, raising an eyebrow at him. What on earth was he talking about?

"I know! You're supposed to listen, not talk," he said, elbowing her gently. "Now hush up,"

He took another deep breath and then said, "I'm asking you to move in with me." Lily's head snapped around to him from where she had been staring at the fire and acting angry with him. He had spoken so fast that his words ran together. He gave a nervous chuckle when he saw the look of utter confusion on her face. "I'm asking," he began again, slower this time. "If you would, maybe, want to live with me."

He reached into his pocket and fished around for something. Lily stared at him, slightly in shock.

"That was the big dangerous secret? That you want to live together?"

"What? Who said the secret was dangerous?" He asked, still slightly distracted by trying to pull something out of his pocket.

"Never mind. What are you _doing_?" she asked exasperated, as he swore softly under his breath and began digging through another pocket.

He ignored her and began emptying the contents of his pockets. She watched as several galleons bounced onto the coffee table in front of them, one of them rolling to the floor with a small _clink_. Several slips of paper, a small rock, which she would have to ask him about another time, and what looked like a screw were added to the pile on the table before he finally held something up in his hand, triumphant.

"Is that a key?" She asked dimly.

"Of course it's a key. It's yours if you want," James said, holding it out to her. "What do you say?"

She stared at the shiny key that rested in his palm for a second. She didn't know what to say. Of course, she _wanted _to say yes, but did it make any sense? She didn't even have a job yet! She wouldn't be able to pay for anything, and she wouldn't feel right allowing him to support her while she looked for a job.

"Don't worry, Lily," he said softly, watching her as she stared at the key, biting her lower lip nervously. "I know what you're thinking, but it's ok, really. You don't need to worry about anything. And besides," he reasoned, "it's closer to Diagon Alley, so you'll be able to look for a job easier!"

She laughed and began reaching for the key, but then she hesitated. "Just so we're clear, this _is_ the secret, right?"

Smiling, he said, "Yes. This is the big secret."

She snatched the key out of his hand and looked at it closely. It was just a regular key, but she couldn't stop smiling and running her fingers along it's angled edges.

"I'll take it that's a yes?" James said hopefully. She threw her arms around him and kissed him.

It was definitely a yes.

After a moment, Lily pulled away. "So, is this why it was so important that I came on this trip with you guys?"

Nodding, James said, "It was all Sirius' idea, you know. He figured if you could survive a weekend in the wilderness with us, you'd be up to living with me."

"So," Lily said, "this was all just one elaborate plan?"

"Of course, Love. What else would it be? You weren't supposed to know anything, though. Well, and the surprise visitor's weren't really in the cards either."

"Remus told me it was Peter's fault."

James laughed. "Yeah, I was already gone, so I didn't know they let Peter do magic on you. He's really awful at that sort of thing. He gets nervous,"

"And you let him become an animagus?" Lily asked, giggling slightly.

"We were worried, but he pulled it off brilliantly."

Lily nodded, and leaned back into the couch, still examining the key she held in her hand.

"Thanks, James. It was a lovely surprise. And I'd love to live with you."

James smiled and put an arm around her shoulders.

"Just so you know," Lily said, finally putting the key in her pocket. "Sirius plans on us all getting really pissed tonight. He wants to play Go Fish with alcohol."

"Go Fish?" James said, sitting up, obviously excited. "I've always wanted to learn that game!"

"You know, James. There aren't really any fish involved."

"_What_? None?"

Lily sighed and rolled her eyes. Pure bloods.

**A/N**: I'm torn. Should I do one more chapter to finish the camping trip, or should I end it here, now that the secret is out? I keep going back and forth, so some outside input would be nice!

And, I'm sorry that James didn't propose, emandem, but hopefully this was good enough for you? :)


	5. Chapter 5

**Camping**

**Chapter Five**

Shortly after Lily had accepted his invitation to live together, the others arrived back at the clearing. Remus poked his head into the tent and looked pointedly at James, who grinned broadly and gave him a thumbs up.

Lily laughed. "You really did have all of this worked out."

"'Course we did!" Sirius said, entering the tent behind Remus. "We didn't want to burst in on anything inappropriate." He winked at Lily, and she blushed remembering a very awkward evening a few months before the school year ended.

She glared at him and said, "I thought we agreed never to talk about that again!"

"In his defense," Peter said, plopping down in the chair opposite Lily and James, "His made a general comment, you see. You're the one who applied it to a specific situation."

"Oh, bugger off, Peter." Lily said, waving a hand at him dismissively. "We all know that's what he was thinking."

Sirius shrugged, and then nodded to the key lying on the coffee table. "So? Any news you feel like you need to enlighten us with?"

"Yes! Will we be throwing you a housewarming party?" Remus asked.

"I agreed to move in with James, if you must know," Lily said, even though she suspected that they already knew, considering they had staged the whole weekend to get her to agree without her even knowing. Well, for the most part, anyway. "And, by the way, Sirius. A housewarming party does not involve burning down the house."

Sirius looked slightly crestfallen as he said, "Are you sure? I thought I read somewhere that it was customary for the best mate of the man to light fire to the house."

"Oh yeah," Remus said, nodding his head and playing along. "I read that too. It's good luck, you know."

Lily threw him a look, but refused to acknowledge them any further. James, on the other hand, laughed along with them and said, "What magazine did you read it? Dastardly Deeds weekly?"

"Dastardly Deeds?" Peter asked. "That sounds like McGonagall."

James shrugged. "It probably was."

Sirius, who had been busy rummaging around in his bag, let out a triumphant "Yes!" which drew everyone's attention to him.

"What on earth?" Lily muttered as she watched him pull a bottle of whiskey, five shot glasses, and what appeared to be a very battered goblet.

"That's what he likes to call the holy grail. It's for the winner." Peter explained.

"Right," Sirius said, motioning to the table and pulling out his deck of cards. "We need to celebrate!"

* * *

After explaining for the third time in the same day that there were absolutely, positively, under no circumstances, fish involved in any way in the game Go Fish, Lily was suddenly thankful for the liquor Sirius had so kindly provided. She had a feeling she was going to need it.

It had taken several practice rounds for the boys to catch onto the general gist of the game, which concerned her as it was a child's game. "Now, Lily," James had asked. "Say that I have a kind of hearts. Do I say, 'give me all you kings' and then everyone who has a king hands it over?"

Lily sighed, exasperated. It was probably the sixth time she had explained it. She was about to say yes to get him to just shut up and play the game, but Remus, always the voice of reason, took over.

"No, James. You have to ask a specific person, and only that person can give it to you."

"And if they don't have it, I have to go fish for fake, nonexistent fish?" James asked, looking around for clarification.

"Exactly!" Sirius said, "But don't forget. If you have to go fish and you don't get your card, you have to drink."

"Right," Peter said, nodding his head. "I think we're ready. Shall we do one to start it off?"

"Brilliant idea, Peter!" James said, filling his shot glass and passing the bottle of to Lily.

It was either going to be a very good night, or very bad, she thought as she downed her first shot of the night.

* * *

"Moony," Sirius said, pointing to his friend across the table. "Give me your damn fours!"

Remus, swaying slightly in his seat after having just recently doing a shot, squinted at his cards. Sirius, incredibly impatient when sober, sighed loudly and said, "I think I feel my hangover coming on."

"Calm down, you arse," Remus said, still studying his cards. "If the bloody things would stop moving, I'd tell if you I had it." A moment later, Remus pulled a card from his hand and tossed it as Sirius. "Happy now?"

Sirius examined the card before pulling three others out of his hand. "I've got a…what have a got, Lily?"

"A book,"

"How on earth do you make a book out of cards. It's dreadfully boring. It says the same thing over and over!" Sirius said, laying his cards down on the table.

Lily rolled her eyes and said, "It's still your turn."

"Fine then, miss know it all. Give me your eights," Sirius demanded.

Lily examined the cards in her hand for a moment and then smiled sweetly at him. "Go Fish, Sirius Black."

He reached into the messy pile of cards in the center of the table and pulled one out. He did not even try to hide his excitement when he showed Lily his card. "You there!" he said, pointing at her the way he had at Remus moments before. "You do a shot!"

James passed the bottle to Lily and she dutifully filled her glass. "Cheers!" she said before she threw back her head and downed the liquid. It was becoming easier and easier to do, which worried her greatly.

Sirius' luck ended, though, and soon he was doing shots very frequently, catching up to the rest of them. The game was nearly finished, and the bottle nearly empty when James slapped the table fiercely and said, "You're all cheaters, you know that? All of you." He glared around the table and then asked Lily, "Have you got a queen with puppy feet?"

Lily burst out laughing and nearly choked on the whiskey she was swallowing. Placing her shot glass down on the table she said, "You're going to accuse me of cheating before you even ask if I've got a card? Rubbish!" she exclaimed, giggling madly.

Remus stroked his chin thoughtfully and said, "I may be mistake, Mr. Prongs, but I do believe those puppy feet you speak of are called spades."

"Puppy feet? I have puppy feet!" Sirius said, attempting to get his foot up on the table top.

"Ugh, Padfood. Get your stinking puppy foot out of my face. It smells like rotting puppies." Peter said, swatting half heartedly at his friends offensive foot.

"Rotting puppies? That's an image I could have done without," James said, wrinkling his nose. "Do a shot!" he said, passing the nearly empty bottle.

"You're all wrong!" Lily said, throwing her hands in the air. "The rotting puppies are not spades, they're clubs!"

"Are you sure? I thought they were spades."

Lily nodded knowingly. "Trust me, I'm a Muggle."

"You're not a muggle, you dolt," Peter said, not even wincing as he swallowed. "If you were a muggle, you would know that you're wrong."

"I don't think I follow that logic, Petey, and I don't think that I care that much," Sirius said picking up his cards. "Oh!" he said suddenly, "I have a queen of puppy feet! Here you go, mate. She's all yours."

"I don't think it was your turn," Remus said, hiccupping slightly.

"Moony, Moony, Moony." Sirius said in a sign song voice. "Little do ye know, gentle Moony. It's _always_ my turn!"

Lily snickered and then picked up the cards which she had abandoned in her quest to prove that she knew best. "Why do you talk like you're a thousand years old?"

"He's an old soul," James said knowingly. Lily threw a card at him, and he defended his outburst by saying, "Well, he's the only person I know outside of a nursing home who likes butterscotch!"

"That's because he thinks he'll get drunk!" Remus said, snorting with laughter.

"Why would they call it butter_scotch_ if wouldn't make you drunk? It's made of scotch!" Sirius said pounding the table each time he said scotch, as if that was helping him get his point across.

Lily smiled contentedly. "I feel like I'm quite pissed, you know."

Remus burst into laughter and rested his head on the table, while Lily stood up. "I'm going to go change. Don't you dare think of walking in, Sirius Black. I'll hex you into next month," she warned as she stumbled towards the bedroom, the card game completely forgotten.

As she shut the door she could hear Sirius asking, "What's the date? How soon is next month?" A moment later, she heard a scuffle through the door, what could only have been James attacking his friend. She smiled to herself as she changed into a pair of pajama pants.

When she opened the door, she couldn't help but laugh at the sight that was before her. Peter sat with his head resting on the table much the way Remus had been when she left. Sirius and Remus were shoving each other on the couch, and she could have sworn she heard Sirius say, "Stay on your own cushion, you bloody beast!" James was sitting on the arm chair taking it all in with a large grin on his face.

Lily sat down on the floor, leaning back on the arm chair, next to James' legs. Suddenly, he stood up and jumped onto the chair. "I need to make an announcement!" he said loudly, standing up so that he towered over everyone else. "Shut it, Black. I need to talk."

Sirius obliged his friend, but only for a second. Lily noticed that Remus was slowly inching his finger over to touch the cushion that Sirius was occupying. She shook her head, thinking that was the type of thing she did with her sister when she was ten years old.

"Out with it, already," Sirius said, slightly annoyed.

"Why do you always have to talk when you're pissed?" Remus asked. "It's like you think you're the bloody minister of magic, making speeches all over hell and back."

Ignoring his friends' comments, James continued on. "I, James Potter, am in love with all of you!"

Lily put a hand over her mouth to try and control her laughter. She had quite a lot to drink, but she wasn't sure she was drunk enough to declare her love to an entire room of people.

"You, there, with your head down. You are a great friend. And you snore like a hippogriff." James said, pointing to Peter who sat with his head still on the table, unaware of James' declaration of love for him.

"And you! Sirius Black! You are my best mate. Remus. Remus. Remus. You are too smart for me. Too smart. But I do. I. Love. You."

Remus bowed jokingly from his seat on the couch. Clearly, it wasn't the first time that he had heard this particular speech.

"And you!" he said, pointing to Lily. She grinned up at him from her seat on the floor, only a little afraid of what he might say. Before he finished speaking, though, he jumped down from his perch on top of the cushion and stood in front of her. "You're pretty," he said, batting his eyelashes at her.

She laughed, "Thank you, James. You're pretty too,"

* * *

Lily was the first to wake the next morning, and when she walked out into the living area, she instantly regretted her decision to wake up. The sunlight that streamed in through the window by the kitchen sink awakened a sharp pain in her brain that morphed into a dull throb that she knew would stay with her all day.

She looked around at the living room, not fully remembering the events of the night. As she examined the mess they left behind, though, the memories came flooding back to her. The table was still set with the shot glasses and Sirius' holy grail, which hadn't been used since the game was abandoned. The cards were still strewn on the table, some of them on the floor underneath as well. There were candy wrappers littering the coffee table, and the cushions from the couch were missing.

Lily vaguely remembered Sirius and Remus fighting over the couch like five year olds. Remus had taken a cushion, placed it over Sirius' legs when he laid down to claim the entire piece of furniture for himself, and then sat on it, refusing to move until Sirius had managed to shake him to the floor. In the end, she had taken the cushions away from them, but she wasn't sure where exactly she had put them.

Peter had remained passed out at the table until James took pity on him and moved him to his sleeping bag.

Deciding that coffee was the most important thing, she set about making some, wishing that the sun would go behind a cloud until she was more fully awake. She was just sitting down when the bedroom door opened. She turned to see Remus emerge looking like a train had run him over. She was sure that she didn't look much better.

She nodded at him, and then gestured to the pot of coffee. He shook his head and then sat down across from her. Neither spoke for several minutes.

Lily was staring listlessly at the mess of cards that littered the top the table when Remus finally spoke. "I hate Sirius."

Startled by his sudden outburst, Lily snapped back to attention and saw that Remus was sitting with his head resting on his arms. She was about to second his declaration, but James walked out of the bedroom, groaning and rubbing his face as though he was wiping away the sleep.

"Morning," he muttered, sitting down with another groan. Lily gave him a small smile and then offered him her coffee. He turned her down with a lazy flick of his wrist and then nodded towards Remus. "Is he still alive?"

"He hates Sirius," Lily offered helpfully. "And, I can't say that I blame him."

James nodded. "It happens."

The three sat silently for a few more minutes before Lily decided she was awake enough to finally do something useful. "I think we should start cleaning up. I've got to be home by three and it's already eleven." She looked at James pointedly, but he decided to ignore it.

"I'm going to kill him," Remus muttered, picking his head back up. His face was paler than usual and his hair stood at strange angles, making him look like a mad scientist.

Lily smiled sympathetically and said, "It's alright. We can get you some hangover potion soon enough." Ignoring the dull ache in her own head, she stood up and took another good look around the devastated tent with her hands on her hips and her lips pursed.

"James, darling, will you grab the trash can for me?" Lily asked, already heading toward the coffee table that was littered with candy wrappers.

As Remus slowly moved back towards the bedroom, James followed Lily around the living room with the garbage can while she threw handfuls of wrappers, paper plates and plastic cups into it.

"I'm having a vision of the future," He said jokingly.

"Oh?" Lily asked, raising an amused eyebrow. "And what do you see?"

"I see you dragging me around cleaning our flat."

"Our flat," Lily said, trying it out for the first time, a large smile taking over her face.

"That's right, Love." James said, sitting the can down and closing the distance between him and Lily.

Lily smiled and laced her arms around his neck. "Just so you know, James. I won't be cleaning up after you in _our_ flat."

James chuckled lightly and kissed her forehead. "You say that now. You have no idea how much filth I'm capable of living with. You'll break way before me."

Wrinkling her nose in disgust, Lily pushed him away and said, "You're a hog, Potter. If you're trying to talk me _out_ of living with you, I feel like I should tell you that it's working."

"Isn't this darling," Lily rolled her eyes and turned to see Sirius leaning in the doorway between the bedroom and the living area still dressed in his rumpled clothes from the day before. He smirked and then stretched before moving fully into the room. "I suppose I'll have to leave to knock when I come visit, right Prongs?" He winked at Lily and she just rolled her eyes at him again, wondering how he was so chipper after all he had to drink last night.

He looked at the cushion-less couch for a moment with a puzzled look and then realization seemed to dawn on him and he turned back towards Lily, who had resumed cleaning up the living room. "Do you remember where you put the cushions?"

"That's kind of funny," Lily said, tucking some of her hair behind her ear and chuckling. "I was hoping that we would find them while we were cleaning up."

"Right," Sirius said, looking around. "We thought we'd find that pole, too." He nodded to the stick that Lily had been sent into the woods to find to replace a missing pole that the boys had lost on a similar camping trip a few years before.

"I think," James said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully, "that the moral of this story is that we should not get drunk while using this tent."

"Here, here," Sirius said, sitting down on the couch despite its lack of cushions.

* * *

After finally managing to wake Remus and Peter, Lily was able to goad the boys into gathering their things together and setting the clearing back to the state it was in when they arrived. While Sirius and James took down the tent, Remus, Lily, and Peter began apparating things back to the Potter's house.

Having slept through most of the morning and waking to a huge mess, Lily was anxious to get home. She had promised her sister that she would, without a doubt, be home by three to talk about wedding things. Apparating back to the nearly empty clearing, she checked her watch. It was two thirty, and she was a mess.

"James," she called, walking towards where James, Sirius, and now Peter were standing around staring at the tent looking perplexed. "Are you nearly finished? We have to leave! I'm going to be late."

James waved her off and then said, "I think we've done something wrong…It doesn't fit in the bag anymore."

Lily pursed her lips in frustration as she watched the three boys standing over the mess on the ground. "You have to roll it, not fold it."

"Huh," Sirius said, scratching his head. "That does sound about right, actually…"

Within five minutes, the tent was finally packed away in the bag and the last of their garbage was picked up off of the ground. With a final look around, the five apparated back to Potter house. Watching the clock anxiously, Lily saw she had fifteen minutes before she would be late meeting her sister.

When it was only James and Lily remaining, he put his arms around her and said, "I'll see you at home, Miss Evans?"

Lily smiled and rested her head on his shoulder. "I have to tell my parents, first, you know. I can't just run away from home!"

"That's a shame…"

"Cheer up," Lily said looking up at him. "The good news is that I've still got five minutes to get home before my sister has my head. See you tomorrow?"

With that, Lily threw a pinch of floo powder into the fireplace and shouted her address. She closed her eyes as the complex web of fireplaces spun past her and she felt the uncomfortable tug as she was directed into her mother's sitting room fireplace. She rolled out onto the familiar carpet. She looked up into the angry face of her sister and smiled weakly, dusting herself off.

"Have a good weekend?" She asked pleasantly, pulling herself up.

Petunia gave a stiff nod and then returned the question. "Yes," Lily smiled, "I had a great weekend. Shall we get started?"

And with that, she went on with her regular life, her weekend camping trip behind her.

* * *

A/N: Hello all! I just wanted to apologize and claim temporary insanity/laziness for even thinking of stopping the story last chapter. Now, though, we've reached the end of the line for Camping. The good news? I'm going to write a sequel. It's going to be called Moving, and it will follow Lily through convincing her parents that it's a good idea to move in with James, order meetings, and we will find out what is happening with information that Peter gathered from the Death Eater meeting. Of course, Lily will be moving, if she can find the time, that is ;)

Thanks to everyone who reviewed/alerted/favorited. You're all too kind :) I'm glad that you all enjoyed Camping!


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